If our government decided to fingerprint, retina scan, and imbed computer chips into every person in the country, while being able to track all of our purchases and whereabouts, could we still call ourselves the land of the free?  In an effort to “fix” the sub-prime housing debacle, some of the provisions and recently approved amendments to the “Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008” (H.R. 3221) have raised issues of personal privacy.  One amendment would create a national fingerprint registry for “loan originators,” while another would give the government information on all credit card and Internet purchases.  How this fixes the basic problems that people won’t read their loan contracts, or take the time to investigate and understand them, defies reason.

While even the creation of federal fingerprint registries for national security reasons causes debate and controversy, the idea of creating one for an economic concern has been met with virtually no debate in Congress.  In a manager’s amendment to the bill proposed by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) and ranking member Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), any “loan originator” must furnish the newly created Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry with “fingerprints for submission to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and any government agency or entity authorized to receive such information,” for background checks.  A “loan originator” is defined as anyone who "takes a residential loan application; and offers or negotiates terms of a residential mortgage loan for compensation or gain," including some real estate agents.

The very thin and inadequately discussed purpose of this registry is to make sure ex-convicts, who might engage in predatory lending practices, aren’t employed to negotiate loans.  But, no information has even been made available to the public to suggest that large numbers of ex-cons were involved, or much less the root cause of, the mortgage crisis.  Creating a national fingerprint registry, which probably will not have adequate security measures protecting it, will hardly make a dent in the mortgage problem.

In another Senate amendment, Congress would require “information reporting on payment card and third party network transactions.”  Former U.S. House Majority Leader, and FreedomWorks Chairman, Dick Armey commented that: "This is a provision with astonishing reach, and it was slipped into the bill just this week. Not only does it affect nearly every credit card transaction in America, such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express, but the bill specifically targets payment systems like eBay's PayPal, Amazon, and Google Checkout that are used by many small online businesses. The privacy implications for America's small businesses are breathtaking."

"Privacy groups like the Center for Democracy and Technology and small business organizations like the NFIB sharply criticized this idea when it first appeared earlier this year. What is the federal government's purpose with this kind of detailed data? How will this database be secured, and who will have access?”

“This bill reduces privacy across America's payment processing systems and treats every American small business or eBay power seller like a criminal on parole by requiring an unprecedented level of reporting to the federal government.”

The bill also creates a new “Housing Trust Fund and Capital Magnet Fund” used for the construction of affordable rental housing.  I wonder if these trust funds will be as secure as the Social Security trust fund, which does not even exist.

Angry Renters across the country have been wondering why the government is rushing to bail out reckless home borrowers when renters comprise 32% of homeowners, while foreclosures are less than 2% of the national market.

Though Congress feels the need to do something about the mortgage crisis, bailing out lenders, bailing out borrowers, and encroaching on the nation’s privacy are all terrible ideas.  Influences by the government, and especially the Federal Reserve, on the economy have not helped us, and have no place in a free market.

Not only has the FED further decreased the value of the dollar with its bailout scheme of banks and lenders, but government provisions to “protect” and help borrowers seem to only further erode personal responsibility, and freedom.  In all aspects of life, especially where finances are concerned, Americans need to take responsibility for their decisions.  Perpetuating further slavery to the government is not the answer, to any problem, ever.